Personal Injury Lawyer Virginia Beach
In Virginia, personal injury cases often hinge on proving that the defendant was negligent, meaning they failed to exercise reasonable care, resulting in harm to another person. However, not all negligence cases are the same, and one important distinction in personal injury law is between general negligence and negligence per se.
While both concepts involve a failure to act with the appropriate level of care, negligence per se has its own set of criteria and legal implications. A Virginia Beach personal injury lawyer understands the differences between these two, which can be crucial in determining the strength of your case and how the law applies to your situation. If you have been injured, call Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp to find out what legal options you may have
What Is General Negligence?
General negligence refers to a situation where a person or entity fails to exercise reasonable care, resulting in harm to another individual. In Virginia, to prove negligence, the plaintiff must demonstrate four key elements:
- Duty of care: The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff to act in a certain way to prevent harm.
- Breach of duty: The defendant failed to meet that duty of care through their actions or omissions.
- Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty directly caused the plaintiff’s injuries.
- Damages: The plaintiff suffered actual harm or damages as a result of the defendant’s actions.
In a general negligence case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s actions—or lack of actions—were unreasonable and that the injuries sustained were a foreseeable consequence of that failure to act reasonably. For example, a driver who runs a red light and causes an accident may be considered negligent, as they violated their duty to follow traffic laws and cause no harm to others.
What Is Negligence Per Se?
Negligence per se is a legal doctrine that applies when a person violates a law or regulation designed to protect public safety, and that violation leads to injury. In a negligence per se case, the violation of the statute itself is considered evidence of negligence, which can make the plaintiff’s case easier to prove. Essentially, if someone breaks a law created to prevent harm, and their actions directly cause harm in a way that the law intended to prevent, they can be held liable for negligence without needing to prove that the defendant acted unreasonably.
To establish negligence per se in Virginia, the following must be demonstrated:
- Violation of a statute or regulation: The defendant must have violated a law enacted to protect a specific group of people (e.g., pedestrians, motorists, etc.).
- Injury within the scope of the law: The injury must be the type of harm that the law was designed to prevent.
- Plaintiff is within the class of persons the law is meant to protect: The plaintiff must belong to the group of people the law was intended to protect.
An example of negligence per se would be a car accident caused by a driver speeding in a school zone, violating traffic laws designed to protect children. If that speeding driver injures a child, the violation of the law can be seen as automatic evidence of negligence.
How Does Negligence Per Se Differ From General Negligence in Virginia?
The primary difference between negligence and negligence per se is that in negligence per se, the plaintiff does not need to prove that the defendant acted unreasonably. Instead, violating a specific law or regulation is automatically seen as evidence of negligence. This makes negligence per se easier to prove in some cases because the plaintiff does not have to establish that the defendant failed to act with reasonable care.
On the other hand, in general negligence cases, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant’s actions were unreasonable. This requires a detailed analysis of the facts of the case, including whether the defendant’s behavior deviated from what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.
In general negligence, there is a need to prove that the defendant’s behavior caused harm. In contrast, in negligence per se, the violation of the statute itself serves as direct evidence of negligence as long as the injury falls within the scope of the law’s protection.
Another key difference is that negligence per se typically applies to violations of specific laws or regulations, such as traffic laws, safety regulations, and other legal rules created to prevent harm to the public. General negligence, however, can apply to a wide range of situations that don’t necessarily involve a specific legal violation but rather the failure to act with the appropriate level of care.
Can Negligence Per Se Be Used in All Personal Injury Cases?
No, negligence per se cannot be used in all personal injury cases. It only applies in situations where a defendant has violated a specific statute or regulation that was designed to prevent the kind of harm that occurred. This is why negligence per se is most commonly used in cases involving clear regulatory or legal violations, such as traffic accidents or violations of safety standards in workplaces.
For example, if a person is injured in a car accident where the driver ran a red light, and the red light is governed by a traffic statute designed to prevent collisions, then negligence per se could apply. However, if the accident occurred due to a more ambiguous situation, such as a driver failing to properly yield the right-of-way, it may be a general negligence case because no specific statute was violated.
Another situation where negligence per se might not apply is when the violation of the statute or regulation is not directly linked to the plaintiff’s injury. For example, if a driver speeds but the accident is caused by a mechanical failure unrelated to the speed, negligence per se may not be relevant, even though the driver violated a statute.
How Does Negligence Per Se Affect My Personal Injury Claim?
If negligence per se is applicable in your personal injury case, it can make the process of proving liability easier and strengthen your claim. Since negligence per se allows you to use the violation of a statute as automatic proof of negligence, you won’t need to spend as much time and resources trying to establish that the defendant acted unreasonably. This can simplify your case and increase your chances of securing a favorable outcome.
However, even if negligence per se applies, you must still prove that the defendant’s actions caused your injuries and that you suffered actual damages. Additionally, you must show that the violation of the law was directly related to the harm you experienced and that you were within the class of individuals the law was meant to protect. If you can meet all these criteria, negligence per se can be a powerful tool in your personal injury claim.
Call Our Personal Injury Law Firm Today
The legal team from Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp has been advocating for injured clients since 1985 and will do all we can to ensure you receive the best possible outcome under the circumstances of your case. Contact our office today to schedule a free case evaluation and find out how we can help. We are committed to getting our clients the financial compensation they are entitled to, as evidenced by the more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts our firm has obtained.
For your convenience, we have offices in Virginia Beach, Hampton, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.